Actually, I'm already using commas as the search criteria. I've made a lot of progress in the last couple of hours. I'm now able to read any filename and put the duration into a spinbox for modification. Now I just need to get it back out of the spinbox, convert it back into ASCII, and re-insert it into the text string.

And if it got corrupted by a crash? Or if somebody used regedit?

Just because something is not "human-readable" - doesn't eliminate the need for checking input for reasonableness.

I would rather Jim not waste time trying to make the Playlist file format "bulletproof".

Editing the Playlist file is an UNSUPPORTED way of modifying the playlist. The supported, documented way is through the Settings panel.

I would guess that most programs can be crashed by entering bogus data into their Registry. That's why Windows doesn't come with an icon for Regedit on the desktop.

If it was me , I would create a backup of the playlist data each time the program was run as a hidden file in the same folder as the original file - simply overwrite the same file every run . So if the user messed up the original file with sloppy editing , it could be restored to a ' last known good configuration ' state . Check for corruption in the main file before it is loaded so that the backup isn't overwritten with bad data , and don't save changes after a crash , and it *should* be okay . Just my 2c .

In theory here, I completely agree. [I was just attempting to point out that modifying the registry is equally "unsupported" - and remembering that we have been encouraged elsewhere in this forum to do things to the registry]

There is a balance here between the importance of Jim's work on the features, versus how robust the program is.

As a professional, however, I always encourage folks to check ALL inputs.

But I suspect that Jim is concerned about the workload on Prolific's technical support staff, responding to customer problems. The more "bulletproof" he makes it, the less user "babysitting" is going to be required.

Jim's in the best place to make that decision, of course.

Butters - if I knew how to make a file hidden, I'd just make the original hidden.

Just purchased the upgrade and I must say, it's superb. Will updates be offered automatically up to the final version?
Sorry if that information is elsewhere. I'm a bit pressed for time, just thought I'd throw some well-earned compliments in your direction Jim.

Yes, updates are free through the "final" version of MA3 (and probably a bit past).

I guess I have to go looking for them periodically? Or is there a newsletter? I think I subscribed to Prolific & Serene Screen News...can't quite remember actually.

Follow this link and choose notification by e-mail.

You will receive an e-mail every time there is a new version of the Aquarium to try out.

Trust me to overlook the obvious. Thanks Jim.

By the way, she works fine in Windows 7 too.

How "hidden" do you need it to be?

Is it sufficient to have it hidden from the "casual" computer user? (One who has not changed Folder Options)?

Or more obscure than that? Or "totally hidden"?

There are ways to do each of those things (with advantages and disadvantages).

Somebody at Prolific should be able to help you with that.

Dale - hidden enough to stop further complaints on the subject from you.

Patrick - I've just about used up my credits at Prolific.

Sorry, I was willing to try to help with your request, if that was possible.

And what level of invisiblility would satisfy you that the users wouldn't be messing with the file?

Jim, awesome job on this program. I downloaded and installed on Vao Laptop with duo core and video card memory of 1750mb. I am running at 1200 x 900 on widescreen in full screen mode. I am only getting 30FPS for frame rate. I have latest video driver. Is this normal for running at this resolution you think?
Thanks
Richard

Timelord - might you be a Doctor Who fan ?

30fps does sound wrong . I get up to 83fps (1200x800) on my Compaq single core laptop with Radeon 200M graphics . This is without AA or AF of course . With AA on the frame rate does drop rapidly . What graphics chip do you have , and what do you have your sleep set to ? If you have Vista 64 ultimate , there have been hiccups .

Jim, I think you mistook my intentions.

I was just expressing a professional opinion that, for maximum program robustness, all inputs should be checked. Even if "there's no way it can be wrong". That's universally considered "good practice", and almost universally ignored in many circumstances.

Please note that I accepted your judgment, as the developer of this application, that having information in the registry was a sufficient amount of protection. And I accepted your judgment that you needed to do a lot of work because the file is visible and editable.

Please note that I agreed with Morgan that we "would rather Jim not waste time trying to make the Playlist file format "bulletproof".

Please note that I also said: "There is a balance here between the importance of Jim's work on the features, versus how robust the program is."

In fact, if I had been writing this program, I would have consciously deferred input-checking until later, and put it on the "to do" list, and moved on. You chose to do more input checking than that, and of course I accept that judgment.

Then you said: "if I knew how to make a file hidden, I'd just make the original hidden. "

So, because I know a bit about the subject, and because you asked, I thought I would offer to help.

Since there are several ways (with advantages and disadvantages) of making a file hidden, I asked for more details about "how hidden" you wanted the file to be. Of necessity, that is your judgment, not mine.

I believe you mistook that for a criticism or a "complaints on the subject".

That wasn't what I intended. It was an honest effort to answer "if I knew how to make a file hidden..."

And yet felt the need to post ANOTHER annoying wall of text.

All the "please notes" have been duly noted.

Me thinks you need to go enjoy a slab of Pizza Jim. You deserve it.

P.S. The peanut butter recall will end soon and you can return to that if you like.

:lol:

Time enough for pizza after I get these darn interfaces done.

Regarding the 30fps frame rate
 

I was tweaking the Display a little and the screen flickered and went blank. Then it came back and looked pretty good. So I went and tried the Marine Aquarium and my frame rate has increased to 75fps. Apparently the default video card settings selected full screen with no border whatever that means. When this setting was set the frame rate was 30fps. This is a vio laptop 2.26 GH duo core with 4GB system memory and video card ram 1759 according to the dxdiag setting. Now it looks much sharper now also. I am amazed. I was not able to see all of this awesome detail before now I can. What a beautiful program. Thanks for all the hard work you put into this Jim. It is AWESOME!
Richard
PS I noticed that the Aquarium version 2.6 had the option to Limit Frame Rate in the user settings for the program. Will this also be available in the Marine Aquarium 3.0 version? Seems like a useful tweak.

My dead star fish
 

It gets better all the time but agree with one contributor who said he had a 'dead''starfish! Mine just sits there and does nothing more than raise a leg occasionally. I miss it on the glass. Maybe there's a disease going about that affects starfish! Can we add a water treatment maybe? If the threads are correct we will be getting crabs (no funny remarks about that!) and sea slugs and who knows, perhaps jelly fish. Can't wait.

timelord , pressing the up/down cursor keys affects the 'sleep' setting , which will alter the frame rate . Higher sleep number , less frames . Eventually there will be a slider like in 2.6 , sometime after Jim has finished the new fish models/behaviour .

P.S. Time is also wibbly wobbly timey wimey ;P

You forgot the Stuff part!

Time is Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey STUFF!

:D

Regarding the 30fps frame rate
 

timelord,

Nicki is right, but beware that lowering the Sleep() setting too far, to increase the FPS, has the effect of maxing out the CPU usage... NOT good!

On my system, lowering the Sleep() to '1' can give as much as 190 FPS, (in Windowed mode), but with 100% CPU usage!!!
The default Sleep(10) setting produces about 112 FPS in MA3 Windowed mode, and registers around 60% CPU usage in the Task Manager.
Increasing to Sleep(20) produced about 52 FPS and registers around 25/30% CPU usage. - Your setup of course may be different.
Increasing beyond Sleep(20) makes no further improvement to CPU usage, BUT reduces the FPS still further!

I suggest increasing the default Sleep() setting until your FPS drops to around 40/50. - It can benefit your CPU usage, considerably!

Your selected Sleep() setting is remembered by MA3 for the next start-up.

Diehard fan of the new Doctor Who (2005-forever I hope) here too. ;)

Christmas Special was a tad sappy I have to say, but still great fun. Grabbed it off BT the morning after it aired and showed it to some friends.

There's a "favorite TV shows" thread over in the Culture section. Not sure if there is one specifically for Doctor Who.

Ray Wright - The starfish moves about quite a bit, but it currently starts in the same position each time the program starts. Here's the problem with it going on the glass: There has never been a smooth transition from the floor to the glass, or vice-versa. In the old program, the starfish would wait until the lights were completely out to switch. MA3 doesn't have automatic lighting yet, so I either need to implement that, or develop a smooth transition where the starfish crawls from the floor to the glass. (Both of which are on the list.)

Right now I'm busy chasing down a crashing bug in the new Logo interface when using multimonitors. Then it's just a matter of adding Patrick's Random request, and I'll be able to upload Beta 9c.

sounds great Jim, Can't wait

I do kind of miss the automatic lighting, at times...maybe when you get to that point, it can be an option to use it or not, and the starfish will only get on the glass when it's on...that is, if it's impossible to get the starfish on the glass any other way...

That's how it was in the old program - automatic lighting was optional and the starfish would only make the transition if it was on. Creating a realistic movement from the floor onto the glass is definitely something I intend to do, after I put out some of these other fires.

lol..I figured that wasn't going to be an "impossible" you'd be happy living with...I was happy with the way it worked before, and like I said I do miss the auto-lighting at times, but I'd also be wowed to see the starfish climb up on the glass in full view...this is an exciting program that just keeps getting better...I'm content to wait for good things to come...

Do you think we could tempt Fish Picker back? ;) ..... Are you out there, Ron? - (Mountainmaster) :)

iMark - automatic lighting will take a while to implement. MA3 has no "lights", everything is done with Shaders. While this makes all kinds of interesting new effects possible, there's no longer a central "lights up" or "lights down" switch within the program.

ahh..I see...the auto-lights were cool sometimes, but this new aquarium looks so fantastic, I won't be disappointed if they never return or it takes quite some time to implement it...there are much more exciting things to look forward to first....

Most people didn't like the autolights, especially when it went into sillouhette form. But it served two functions: allowing the starfish to go onto the glass, and preventing burn-in. Now that the whole background moves, burn-in shouldn't be a problem.

Except for those of us with multi-monitor displays that are wide enough, though there should be few of us.